“Doesn't surprise me," Nana snorted. "I wouldn't put anything past your late husband.""He's not dead, Nana."Nana sighed. "Hope springs eternal.”

“Nana glanced at Ben. "I think your mom has catepillars in her ears. She keeps repeating everything I say like she can't hear me.”

“He works at the kennel with Nana," Ben piped up. "And I think him and Mom are dating." At that, a stillness fell over a throng of admirers, punctuated by a few uncomfortable coughs.”

“I'll be with my sister. And believe it or not, she has a phone and everything. She stopped using smoke signals last year." - Nana”

“Admittedly, there was a lot she still didn't know about him, but she did know this: He completed her in a way that she'd never thought possible. Knowledge isn't everything, she told herself, and she knew then that, in Nana's words, he was the toast to her butter.”

“If relationships were hard, mariage was even harder... it seemed like most couples struggled. It went with the territory. What did Nana always say? Stick two different people with two different sets of expectations under one roof and it ain't always going to be shrimp and grits on Easter.”

“What happens in the past, is in the past. But don't be surprised if it comes back and haunts you.”